Mediterranean diet as good as low-fat one: study

A Mediterranean-style diet high in olive oil and other ''healthy'' fats is just as good as the classic American Heart Association low-fat diet for the 8 million Americans who have suffered a heart attack and want to prevent a repeat, new research suggests.

People on either diet had one-third the risk of suffering another heart attack, a stroke, death or other heart problem compared with heart patients eating in the usual way, the study found.

The results of the study were presented Sunday at an American College of Cardiology conference. The Heart Association and the Mediterranean diet are low in saturated fat (less than 7 percent of total calories) and cholesterol (less than 200 milligrams a day).

Courtesy of AP

Steve - while not surprising that the Mediterranean diet was effective, we can definitively say is that it is far and away the better long-term dietary choice. The AHA diet is brutal. Besides being a diet in healthy fats, the Mediterranean diet is also a low glycemic index diet, to which one expert says that every doctor should advise his patients to adopt to prevent diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

After poring over 20 research studies, David Ludwig from the Children’s Hospital, in Boston, says the key to low glycemic index is differentiating between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbohydrates. "Bad" carbohydrates rapidly increase blood glucose levels, including most processed foods, such as breakfast cereals, white bread and white rice, cakes and biscuits, and more surprisingly, perhaps, potatoes (especially fried), and drinks such as beer. Low-GI foods include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that have not been overly processed, such as brown rice.

Or better yet, just look at our Blood Sugar Balance Action Plan.